We all are drawn to watching 'successful success.' You open your feed or YouTube — and there are endless breakdowns: how someone built a billion-dollar company, how they skyrocketed on marketplaces, how they earned, scaled up, and won. And we think: here it is, the recipe. Just copy their tricks, and everything will be the same.

I myself spent a long time reading Branson's books, looking at market leaders, and trying to replicate their actions. I thought success leaves traces.

But the truth is that someone else's success is just motivation. It charges you with energy, gives you a kick in the pants, but doesn't provide a real survival guide.

Why? Because we only see those who made it. This is the classic 'survivorship bias.' If we only look at winners, we will never know why the other 95% went bankrupt. We won't see the fatal decisions that led them to ruin.

Success shows the direction. But others' mistakes show what can kill your business.

If you want systematic growth, you should first learn from those who made mistakes and fell. That's where the most valuable information is buried — where it's thin, where it breaks, which hypotheses turned out to be false. And the same applies inside your company: it's not so important why satisfied customers stayed with you. It's much more important why dissatisfied customers left.

How to put this into practice?

If you are currently growing actively or just want to stand firmly on your feet, do one very cool, sobering exercise. Right today, sit down and write down 20-30 points on the topic: 'What could kill my business right now?'

Don't think about how to double it. Think about where your holes are.

Cash gap due to supply delays?

Departure of a key top manager on whom all processes depend?

Blocking of the main traffic channel?

Changes in platform rules?

When a business grows quickly, we get euphoric, we step on the gas and only look forward. But it is at high speed that any pothole becomes fatal. By writing down these 20-30 points, you begin to see your blind spots. You clearly understand where you need to lay straw today so that tomorrow you don't have to pick up the pieces of your company.

In short. Get inspired by winners, charge yourself with their energy — that's necessary. But learn from mistakes and always keep your focus on vulnerabilities.

The ability to see risks and lay straw before everything collapses — that's what distinguishes a systematic, mature business from playing roulette.